Sorry y’all, having technical difficulties so live posting is gonna have to get paused.

Patsy Woods Martin: “I don’t think it’s important what I think. I think it’s important to know what you think.”

Shares that she has been speaking with SDEC members.

Steve Miller: Someone who can be a visionary and leader. He shares his experience of working to help uplift and support marginalized communities when he lived in Bastrop.

Meri Gomez: Executive Leadership. TDP needs someone who knows how to be a boss who has executive experience.

Aaron Argujio: Caring. Talks about his experience traveling stat wise when running for office.

Alright, after some brief intros, 1st Q) What do you consider the most important qualification and how do you fit that?

Takeaway:

The winner of this forum is @oliviamesser.bsky.social, the moderator.

O’Malley: All that we need depends on on change.

We need “a new South.”

Closing statements:

Martin: This DNC can do so much more, if only we reimagine it.

Wilker: People don’t trust our political system right now. If we can rebuild our trust, we can get things done.

Wilker: talks about ensuring commitment to build a fundamental coalition. Wants to focus on a system bigger than himself, says DNC chair should check and recognize their privilege.

Martin: “We’re all white guys. I can’t change that.” Cites that all staffing and decisions should be reflective of the diversity of our party. Recognizes his privilege and commitment to have a party that looks and is representative of our party.

Q: How are you the right person to lead our coalition when you’re all older affluent white men? (Editor’s note: I love this question.

O’Malley: when I became Mayor of Baltimore, I beat two candidates of color and the media focused on that upset. Our diversity is our strength. Judge me by my heart.

Wilker: Cites the fact that many reporters haven’t been to the RGV

(Editor’s note DAMN RIGHT!)

Cites that rural voters are not exclusively white and we need to recognize the intricacies of communities to organize from
The bottom up.

O’Malley: I created my own leadership PAC to travel to red states and bring attention to state lege candidates. If we want a rural strategy, we need to recruit candidates to run in rural areas.

Q: How will the DNC invest in rural voters?

Martin: Cites work on Red State Fund and 57 state strategy, wants to have real convos with rural voters

O’Malley: Tells how when he ran for re-elect of Maryland, post recession that he acknowledged people’s pain.

We need to build a narrative arc.

Martin: As the only card carrying union member, I can tell you we lost working class people because they feel like we’re not fighting for them. We must focus on a working class agenda.